Stability in Special Teams Significant

By Len Pasquarelli

06/30/2011

With truncated camp time, stability in special teams will be critical. Pasquarelli looks at it through eyes of Dallas Morning News' annual rankings.

It's somewhat incongruous that in a year in which the Green Bay Packers
were the Super Bowl XLV champions, the storied franchise finished near
the bottom of the special teams rankings -- 29th, in fact -- annually
compiled by Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News.

One of the alleged football truisms upon which most of us have been
raised has been the trite notion that special teams units, or the
kicking component, represent one-third of the game. But the Packers,
with their high-powered offense and a defense that attacked the pocket
in its 3-4 scheme, and finished the campaign rated No. 5 overall,
flaunted that bedrock belief.

They might not be as fortunate in 2011.

In normal seasons, approximately 25 percent of all games are determined
by three points or fewer, a scant differential that not only magnifies
the importance of a club's field goal kicker, but its special teams
units in general. The 2011 campaign, which already has been without
minicamps and OTAs and might have a truncated training camp schedule,
figures to be anything but ordinary. And while some might argue that the
unusual circumstance could result in more lopsided outcomes -- with the
most experienced and stabile clubs enjoying a significant advantage --
many coaches acknowledge that strong special teams play will make a
difference.

"The impact (of special teams) will probably be bigger than ever,"
allowed one NFC head coach whose teams ranked in the top one-third of
the league in '10, according to Gosselin's calculations. "Details are
big in any year, and will be bigger if we have to play without an
offseason ... and special teams are all about details."

The kind of detail work normally associated with special teams, the
repetition that is often necessary for return or coverage units to mesh,
could be reduced by a condensed preparatory schedule for 2011. It makes
some sense that coaches will invest time and effort to ready their
offenses and defenses for the season, and that special teams will be
less a priority. The upside of the lockout is that more five- or
six-year veterans who play special teams, and who might otherwise be
replaced by cheaper rookies, will be able to retain their roster spots.
The tradeoff, however, is that they might get less work in practices.

Still, there is something to be said for continuity, and that's a
commodity that, as far as special teams, will be a prized commodity in
2011.

Because the lockout has made it a little more difficult to maintain
completely accurate and updated contract databases, the exact number
might be a bit off: But it appears as if only about 10-11 franchises in
2011 currently have under contract all six major puzzle parts from last
year's special teams units: kicker, punter, deep snapper, primary punt
and kickoff return specialists, and leading tackler.

At least three league teams list both their incumbent kicker and punter
as pending unrestricted free agents. A fourth, Philadelphia, has an
unrestricted punter (Sav Rocca) and figures to replace its
transition-designated kicker (David Akers) when the lockout ends.

Pittsburgh, the other Super Bowl XLV participant, which ranked unusually
high last year in the special teams ratings (ninth), counts its kicker,
punter, and deep snapper among the players who might be eligible for
unrestricted free agency.

Notable is that seven of Gosselin's top 10 special teams units in 2010
advanced to the playoffs. The group included all four of the franchises
which played in the two conference championship games.

The teams that, because of the lockout, give special teams short shrift
in 2011 may end up on the short end in general.

(Len Pasquarelli is a Senior NFL Writer for The Sports Xchange. He has
covered the NFL for 33 years and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of
Fame selection committee. His NFL coverage earned recognition as the
winner of the McCann Award for distinguished reporting in 2008.)